The teachings of all of the references cited herein are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference.
Cytokines are soluble proteins that influence the growth and differentiation of many cell types. Their receptors are composed of one or more integral membrane proteins that bind the cytokine with high affinity and transduce this binding event to the cell through the cytoplasmic portions of the certain receptor subunits. Cytokine receptors have been grouped into several classes on the basis of similarities in their extracellular ligand binding domains. For example, the receptor chains responsible for binding and/or transducing the effect of interferons (IFNs) are members of the type II cytokine receptor family (CRF2), based upon a characteristic 200 residue extracellular domain. The demonstrated in vivo activities of these interferons illustrate the enormous clinical potential of, and need for, other cytokines, cytokine agonists, and cytokine antagonists. Some cytokines are involved in the inflammatory cascade and can promote such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, psoriasis, heart disease etc. Thus, there is a need to discover cytokines and their receptors that are involved in inflammation. One can then use the isolated soluble receptors of the cytokine to inhibit the cytokine-mediated inflammation.